USC Football: 5 reasons the Trojans will beat Stanford for Pac-12 title

4. The Trojans generate more sacks than all but Miami

Stanford has turned to redshirt freshman K.J. Costello at quarterback, after early-season starter Keller Chryst faded and lost his mojo. USC sacked Chryst twice and hurried him another time when the two teams squared off in Los Angeles in September. Now that they face an underclassman this time around, they will be even more keen to get pressure on the young quarterback.

Only the Miami Hurricanes generate more sacks than USC, which bodes well for their goal of making Costello uncomfortable in Santa Clara. The Trojans have averaged nearly three and a half sacks per game against their opponents, making life miserable in the process for opposing quarterbacks.

Christian Rector and Rasheem Green each rank in the top 25 nationally in sacks. Rector leads the way with nine sacks in 12 games. Green is close behind with eight sacks at this point of the year. They are joined by players such as Josh Fatu and Uchenna Nwosu, who also average more than a half-sack per game.

This time around, USC faces a Stanford team whose offensive line continues to get better with each passing week. But the Trojans have too much firepower in their front seven to be denied for having a party in the backfield a few times over the course of Friday night.